Two Ugandan soldiers have been arrested in connection with the killing of the Irish missionary Father Declan O'Toole and two other people shot while driving in a region of the northeast.
Fr O'Toole (31) a Mill Hill missionary, his driver and an employee of his Panyangela parish were killed when gunmen opened fire on their vehicle as they drove through the Kotido district of Karamjoa on Thursday evening.
"It is our soldiers who are suspected to have killed him. We have arrested two of them," Major Shaban Bantariza said.
The two suspects, who were arrested in Kotido, will face trial before a military tribunal as soon as the investigation is completed, Maj Bantariza said, adding that the motive for the murder has not been established.
Aides to Fr O'Toole in Kampala said nothing was stolen from the victims and that they appeared to have been shot at close range.
They said Fr O'Toole was attacked on March 10th by government troops after he complained that soldiers deployed in the region to disarm cattle herders were using excessive force and beating residents.
He had fled to Kampala after the assault but returned to Kotido after receiving assurances from the government and the Irish embassy that he would be safe in his parish.
President Yoweri Museveni last year ordered the disarming of herders in the remote Karamoja region, including Kotido district, because of an increase in violent cattle raiding incidents among local tribes.
AFP